good luck in this....for me a cheat day would turn into a cheat week...a cheat month and then............If I want something I just eat it and call it my meal or work extra hard on my treadmill to burn it off. For me it's a life style change so I don't miss junk food much any more.

I don't generally plan a cheat day or weekend but there are times I know will be better than others as far as eating according to plan is concerned. Weekends are not my best times but I do try to eat consciously regardless.

I have a cheat day on Saturday. I'll eat whatever I want even a full size candy bar, regular size slice of cake, take out, home cooked-whatever I feel like. I keep this in moderation and not a one day binge...gives me something to look forward to every weekend without feeling deprived of any food I enjoy.

I still have a lot of weight to lose - so I find that I can have a cheat meal (not a whole day) after my WW weigh in on Saturdays, and I will still lose 1 to 2 pounds every week. It is when I have a whole weekend where I eat way too many calories that I undue all my weekly good choices.

To me it's a lifestyle change that incorporates all my healthy choices if I do eat something I try to make sure I stay within my limits. To me it's not worth blowing all my hard work to go crazy for a day. But good luck..

I think this approach can work for people with a very large amount of weight left to lose, or for those who are maintaining and are very athletic or never had a serious weight issue. For most of us, though, it has a couple of major drawbacks. The first is that if you're not obese, in two days of uncontrolled eating you can VERY easily eat back the calorie deficit you created in five days of healthy eating, so you don't achieve weight loss. The second, IMO, is that you never get to the point of really *feeling* that there are certain foods that aren't part of your normal intake any more and that watching what you eat IS what's normal. Having "cheat days" makes it seem that your 5-day lifestyle is a "diet" and that the cheat days are the normal status that you will eventually go back to.

I'm like a number of other people here-- I always track what I eat, but for special occasions I plan in the foods I wouldn't normally eat. The big advantage of that for me is that I don't "waste my cheats." If I know that there's a party and I'm going to have a piece of cake, I don't eat cheese and crackers or chips and dip on top of it. I can work a piece of cake in to my plan and still hit my calorie targets, but not if I don't think about it ahead of time.

I'm also disturbed by the word "cheat" in relation to food. By definition, cheating means acting dishonestly to gain an unfair advantage, or taking something from someone by deception or trickery. Eating food doesn't give you an unfair advantage, and it doesn't victimize anyone else. If you call it cheating, it implies that you're rebelling against some outside force that's trying to control you. But in fact, you're making a decision for yourself that affects no one else. You're not cheating; you're deciding not to work on your weight loss that day. When you put it that way-- "I am making the decision that I want this food more than I want to lose weight this week--" it gets easier to resist, or at least to just eat the special occasion food that you want the most and skip the things you don't care so much about.

One of the reasons I joined SP is because of the 'healthy lifestyle' over the term 'diet'. The term 'diet' has been so abused since it only means what you eat on an ongoing basis, whereas now it's a short term fix to a long term issue. I don't believe in deprivation and while I don't include a weekend cheat diet, I do plan for foods that I no longer see as foods I should eat constantly.

I don't schedule a cheat day--ever! It happens every so often that I fall into compromising situations and overeat. If I know a head of time I calculate it in and cut back the days before or after a big food event. If it happens without planning, I try to regain control as fast as possible and then cut back for a few days to compensate.

As far as cooking and baking . . . I try not to cook or bake anything that is too tempting or too far away from my 'clean' eating regime. The old ways are no longer acceptable without modification so it has opened the door to trying new foods and ways of cooking. I actually cook more now, than ever. I spend more time preparing salads, cleaning fresh veggies for snacking, making up yogurt desserts and quick breakfast meals for the freezer, trying out new healthy recipes etc.

I don't routinely cheat at weekends. However, if I'm entertaining (which isn't very often) I'll eat whatever I've cooked for my guests - but not such a large portion as I might have had in a former life. Similarly, if I'm out for a meal at someone's house, I'll eat what I'm given and be thankful. On the rare occasions that I eat in a restaurant I'm mindful of the calories if these are published but I don't worry overmuch if they're not published. On these occasions I may not even bother to track my food - they're special occasions maybe happening once or twice a month and I don't want to spoil lovely occasions by feeling guilty if I go a bit over.

The fact is, I know that my lifestyle has changed, I know I'm eating more healthily and fewer calories so in any given week I'm going to lose either weight or inches or both. I don't want to jeopardise that just because it's the weekend. I'll save my cheat days for social occasions.

KKKAREN
Posts:
12,639
11/24/13 11:19 A

I try to work in a small treat everyday. Sometimes if I want a big treat say cheesecake, I eat it as my dinner or lunch.

I don't do cheat days or cheat weekends because it throws me off. I am not depriving myself of any type of food. Instead I measure and work it into my daily plan. I'm going to be baking too, I freeze the extra servings so I can use them as desserts or treats.

I can undo an entire week's worth of watching in one afternoon....this is not for me. And when I bake something ... I tend to eat more than one serving. {...my bad...} To thine own self be true. If you can do it...and stay in check ... more power to you

SHERRYLYNN1
Posts:
8
11/24/13 9:58 A

have any of you tried this ? I did this weekend and love it ..I dont feel cheated ..I love to bake and that is going to be my baking day of the week ..hope it works

SparkPeople, SparkCoach, SparkPages, SparkPoints, SparkDiet, SparkAmerica, SparkRecipes, DailySpark, and other marks are trademarks of SparkPeople, Inc. All Rights Reserved. No portion of this website can be used without the permission of SparkPeople or its authorized affiliates.
SPARKPEOPLE is a registered trademark of SparkPeople, Inc. in the United States, European Union, Canada, and Australia. All rights reserved.

NOTE: Terms and Conditions and Privacy Policy last updated on October 25, 2013